


Of Dinos and Dudes

by avocadoatlaww



Category: Haikyuu!!, 四ッ谷先輩の怪談。 | Kiben Gakuha Yotsuya Senpai no Kaidan. (Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Drinking, F/M, M/M, Multi, One Night Stands, and they were ROOMMATES, dinosaur puns, does this count as Slow Burn?, get a grip tsukki, henry the slow burn train, i'm back at it again creating relationship tags, mentions of other ships and characters, nakashima takeru is a good person, oh my god they were roommates, pls read yotsuya-senpai, rare pairs, remember the house rules, these homo erectus boys, yamaguchi tadashi is the real mvp, yotsuya buntarou is a national treasure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 16:00:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20744867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avocadoatlaww/pseuds/avocadoatlaww
Summary: Nakashima Takeru really wasn’t a one-night-stand type of person, but he had been drunk, and the guy had been, well, not exactly charming, more … troubled. Which Takeru realised sounded like the worst time to hook up with someone, but what happened was nowhere near as bad as it sounded.Or, Nakashima Takeru tells too many dad jokes, Tsukishima Kei needs to relax, and Yotsuya Buntarou freaks people out (as always).





	Of Dinos and Dudes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nana_banane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nana_banane/gifts).

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NANA !!! YOU ARE THE BESTEST, LOVELIEST, MOST WONDERFULLEST, AND I LOVE YOU SO SO SO MUCH, SO TAKE THIS FIC AS A TOKEN OF MY LOVE AS I CAN'T SPEND YOUR DAY WITH YOU BECAUSE OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. I HOPE YOU HAVE THE MOST WONDERFUL DAY!
> 
> Super big thank you to [owlsshadows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlsshadows/pseuds/owlsshadows) for betaing, helping me with the story, and just letting me scream in their dms. I couldn't have done this without you.
> 
> Oh, and thank you, Nana, for helping me out with the dinosaur puns without knowing why I wanted them.

Nakashima Takeru really wasn’t a one-night-stand type of person, but he had been drunk, and the guy had been, well, not exactly charming, more … troubled. Which Takeru realised sounded like the worst time to hook up with someone, but what happened was nowhere near as bad as it sounded.

The nightclub was hot and Takeru was already on his third beer, standing by the wall watching his friends dance. It was the last Friday before the new semester started, and they all wanted to get the most out of it. Takeru was not much of a dancer himself, but he liked watching his friends.

Incidentally, he also enjoyed people-watching. Like the two guys by the bar, Eyebrows-san and Bedhead-san, as Takeru had dubbed them in his head. Were they total strangers, or had they been dating for years? Takeru had no idea, but he was leaning towards dating judging by how deep Eyebrows-san had his tongue down Bedhead-san’s throat. Or the two girls by the sofas. Takeru smiled every time he noticed the short-haired girl throw smitten glances at her bespectacled friend.

Or the blond guy with the glasses, who was walking quickly towards Takeru, making his way through the masses on the dance floor. Wait … straight towards him? Takeru squinted at the guy. Did he know him? Not remembering, Takeru giggled to himself and took another drink of his beer.

The guy was approaching fast, and Takeru noticed how he kept throwing glances over his shoulder. He seemed nervous, so the next time he looked towards Takeru, Takeru threw him an encouraging smile.

“Please, kiss me,” the guy demanded, finally reaching Takeru, a wild, distressed look in his eyes.

Takeru looked up at his face and blinked. He was on his third beer, so his brain was working at half its usual speed.

“What?” Takeru asked, as he finally registered the request. Stumbling a bit and almost spilled his drink on the guy. The guy didn’t seem to notice his temporary imbalance, as he was _again _looking over his shoulder.

“Kiss me,” the guy repeated. “Quick.”

“You want me to …” Takeru trailed off.

“Yes, _fuck_, kiss me. He’s coming this way and I –”

“Okay.”

“You will …”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Takeru put his beer on the ground. He didn’t know why he was doing this, but Takeru’s tipsy brain seemed to think it was a good idea.

The guy threw another glance over his shoulder, into the masses of people. He quickly turned back towards Takeru, looking even more distraught than before.

Grabbing Takeru’s face, he pressed his lips roughly against Takeru’s.

_Oh … hm … ok … okay_.

The guy was stiff as a board, not moving his lips at all, just pressing them against Takeru’s.

Takeru giggled softly, breaking away from the guy’s lips. “If we’re doing this,” Takeru said, “then let’s at least do it properly, huh?”

The guy opened his mouth to say something, but Takeru hooked his arms around the guy’s neck and kissed him again. This time the guy seemed to know what to do and kissed back with vigour.

Takeru could feel the stranger relax. He was surprisingly a good kisser, and, okay, yeah, Takeru could get used to this. Takeru softly bit his lower lip, and the guy deepened their kiss, pressing Takeru against the wall and kicking Takeru’s beer in the process.

“Fuck,” the guy said, drawing away from Takeru and looking down at the spilled beer on the floor.

“Don’t mind.” Takeru drew the guy back into a kiss.

The stranger’s hands moved from Takeru’s face, brushing over his shoulders and down his front, feeling Takeru’s muscles through his shirt, before they made their way around his back, pressing the two of them closer together.

Not breaking the kiss, Takeru slung one leg around the other man, who took it as an invitation to lift Takeru up, pressing him even harder against the wall. Takeru hooked his legs around the guy’s waist, smiling into the kiss.

The other guy seemed to have forgotten his distress and whatever was bothering him, as Takeru could feel him getting aroused. Well, Takeru could relate.

Nakashima Takeru wasn’t supposed a one-night-stand type of person, but when the other guy shifted against his crotch Takeru couldn’t help himself.

“Want to get out of here?” he asked, then moaning softly.

The guy looked at him with want in his eyes and nodded. “Your place?”

“Yeah, that wo–” Takeru started, “fuck, my sister’s there …”

“Well, fuck,” the guy said, “bathroom?”

“Hell, yes, bathroom.”

The guy let Takeru down and dragged him towards the bathroom. If Takeru had been a bit more sober, he would probably have thought twice about the whole scenario. But in that moment, Takeru was just on the right side of tipsy and too horny to think about anything other than getting the guy’s hands down his pants.

\---

When Takeru came home that night, he tried his best not to wake his sister. He navigated through all her boxes, the only light coming from the streetlights outside. Almost stumbling over a suitcase on his way into the living room, Takeru swore under his breath, but he didn’t want to turn the light on.

It would be weird when she moved out. Takeru knew he’d miss having her around, and he knew that it would be hard to find a new person to share his flat with him. Makoto had said he could leave it to her, but Takeru worried anyway.

Takeru was halfway through the living room and on his way to the bathroom when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. They were too soft to be Makoto’s, quiet, like a predator stalking its prey.

Takeru stopped. His heart sped up. Makoto should be the only one at home, and she would not sneak up on him like that.

Sensing a presence behind him, Takeru stood stock still. He could feel his hairs stand up, as soft breathing tickled his neck.

“You know, I like to hear people scream,” a lazy, casual-sounding voice whispered in Takeru’s ear, tinged with schadenfreude, “but your sister’s screams are the loveliest.”

At the same time, a flashlight was turned on, and when Takeru turned around, he looked up in a pale face with sharp eyes and a wicked smile. Yotsuya Buntarou was looking down on Takeru with glee.

“Fucking hell!” Takeru exclaimed, trying to keep his voice down. “Why would you … Why did you … I did _not_ need to know that!” 

Yotsuya cackled.

“She’s my sister!” Takeru protested, trying his best to forget that one piece of information about Makoto.

Takeru couldn’t for the life of him understand what his sister saw in the scarecrow of a man called Yotsuya Buntarou. The guy was way too creepy, but apparently, he was there to stay as his sister was moving in with him.

“Bunbun, what are you doing?” Makoto’s sleepy voice came from the doorway into her room. “Come back to bed. It’s late. And cold …”

Yotsuya padded over to her side, and she dragged him down for a quick kiss. That was when she finally noticed her brother standing in the middle of the room.

“Welcome back, nii-san,” she said and went into her room again, with Yotsuya this time, closing the door after them.

Takeru closed his eyes and counted to ten, taking deep breaths to calm down. Deciding to skip the bathroom, Takeru went straight to his bedroom, undressed quickly, and collapsed into bed.

\---

By the time Monday came along, Takeru was quite ready to start the new semester. He’d spent Saturday and Sunday helping Makoto move her things to Yotsuya’s flat. It had been two long and exhausting days, and Takeru was looking forward to the comfort of the routine student life brought with it.

At lunch time, Takeru slumped down at a table in the cafeteria. After shooting a quick text to his best friend, Kawatabi Shunki, Takeru got his Evolutions and Genetics textbook out of his bag and rifled through it, searching for the chapter they had already been assigned.

Kawatabi found him twenty minutes later, deep in concentration.

“So,” Kawatabi said, as he sat down across from Takeru, “where did you disappear to last Friday?”

“Huh?” Takeru looked up from his textbook.

“Friday.” Kawatabi raised an eyebrow. “At the club?”

“Oh,” Takeru looked back down at his textbook. “Nowhere, really.”

It wasn’t that Takeru was ashamed or didn’t want to talk about it. He just hadn’t had the time to process anything from Friday night with how busy his weekend had been. Thinking back on it, what happened between him and Nameless-san at the club was overshadowed by Makoto moving and her freak of a boyfriend.

Most likely, Takeru would never meet the guy again anyway. He didn’t even know his name.

“Mhm, yeah, _sure_,” Kawatabi said. “We looked everywhere for you, you know. But you were nowhere to be found. Shiro thought you might have hooked up with some chick. Oh, and you won’t believe what he said he heard in the men’s bathroom. Someone was apparently really getting it on!” Kawatabi had a wistful look on his face. “If only it was me …”

Takeru coughed. “Yeah, no … no hooking up with girls.” He laughed awkwardly.

Kawatabi studied Takeru, but in the end shrugged. “Well, I wish _I_ had.”

Takeru let out a soundless sigh of relief. It wasn’t that he wanted to keep secrets from Kawatabi. The two had been friends for as long as Takeru could remember, and Kawatabi was the only one, except for Makoto, who knew that Takeru was bi, but he didn’t need to know every single little thing about Takeru’s life.

“Good luck with that, Tabi,” Takeru said and laughed, and this time it was genuine.

“What does that mean?” Kawatabi demanded.

“Oh, nothing, nothing.”

“_Anyway_,” Kawatabi said. “Makoto moved out, right?”

“Yeah, we got all her stuff out, so I’m finally rid of her.” … boyfriend, Takeru silently added. Not having Makoto around would be strange, but if it saved him from frequent encounters with Yotsuya Buntarou, Takeru was not going to complain.

Kawatabi laughed loudly. “Have you found a new flatmate yet?” he asked.

Takeru shook his head. “Makoto said to leave it to her, but as far as I know, she hasn’t found anyone yet.”

As they were talking, Takeru’s phone buzzed. It was a message from Makoto.

“found u a flatmate. he’s moving in on friday. pls clean” it said.

Takeru showed the text to Kawatabi. “Guess I got a flatmate then.”

Kawatabi whistled. “Damn, she’s good.”

“She is. I’ll miss having her around,” Takeru admitted, “but pretty sure I won’t miss her creep that much …” He laughed. “Did I tell you about when I got home on Friday night?”

“Dude, what did he do this time?”

As Takeru launched into the story, the rest of their friends showed up, and he had to start over again at least four times. Everyone liked the Yotsuya stories, but they were also glad he wasn’t a permanent fixture in _their _lives.

\---

The rest of the week went by without incident. Takeru’s new classes seemed interesting, and he was excited to properly start. It was a bit of a slow start, but that was good, as Takeru spent a huge amount of time on deep cleaning his flat for when the newcomer moved in on Friday.

The new guy had apparently already met up with Makoto, and she’d vouched for him.

“Tsukishima-kun is not a freak, nii-san,” she said when they talked on the phone Wednesday evening.

“You sure, Makoto? I can’t really see you as the best judge of character as you’re literally living with the biggest freak.”

“Fuck you, nii-san. Bun-chan is the sweetest. He just has some … unusual hobbies.”

“Unusual?” Takeru asked, trying his best not to laugh.

“… I’m hanging up now,” and she did.

Takeru laughed so hard he almost fell off the couch.

\---

When Friday finally came around, Takeru was getting nervous. He had tried his best to not think about how he was going to live with some stranger the whole week, and mostly he’d managed. He was good at compartmentalising and not overthinking.

Still, the guy was to move in in less than three hours and Takeru was running around fixing up the last few things in the flat that he could do something about. He moved the floor lamp in the living room a couple of centimetres to the left, so it would cover the mysterious spot on the floor Takeru neither knew what was nor wanted to know anything about. Then he watered the few plants that were still alive, hoping they would magically perk up before the new guy showed up. As a biology student, Takeru should have known how to take care of some measly house plants, but there was a reason why he didn’t want to specialise in botany.

Time flew by without Takeru noticing, and it wasn’t long before he heard Makoto’s voice in the hallway.

“Nii-san, we’re here!” she shouted.

“Coming,” he shouted back and quickly straightened out the last folds and creases in the blanket he’d been folding before throwing it over the back of a chair.

He jogged into the hallway, smile already forming on his lips as he prepared to make the best first impression possible, but he came to a full stop when he noticed just who was standing behind his sister. The guy had his head turned away just enough for Takeru to recognise him, but he couldn't see Takeru yet.

_Oh_.

Tall, blond and handsome, with a pair of familiar, thick-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, the guy standing at the entrance of Takeru's flat was none other than the guy from the club. The one Takeru had hooked up with in the bathroom. The guy with whom, it looked like, Takeru was going to live from now on.

When the guy turned around and noticed Takeru, Takeru could see a glimmer of recognition in his eyes, but it quickly went away. Takeru tried a small smile, but the guy just looked at him with a carefully schooled neutral expression, making it impossible for Takeru to read him.

“Hey,” Takeru said, a bit awkwardly, “I’m Nakashima Takeru, and … uh … I guess we’ll be flatmates from now on?”

“Tsukishima Kei,” the guy, Tsukishima, said, sounding almost bored.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Tsukishima-kun.”

Tsukishima said nothing, just sighed.

Makoto looked between the two of them curiously, and clapped her hands together. “I’ll show you your room, Tsukishima-kun, and then I’ll be out of your hair, and let you two get to know each other better.”

As she brushed past Takeru on her way into the flat, she whispered, “The deets, nii-san, the deets.”

Takeru shuddered.

Well, this was going to be interesting.

\---

Later that night, Tsukishima sat down across from Takeru at the kitchen table. He placed two pieces of paper on the table, one in front of himself and the other in front of Takeru.

“House rules,” he said curtly.

Takeru looked at the paper, blinking. It had three rules written on it, and Tsukishima’s name scrawled at the bottom.

“Rule one:” Tsukishima read, “No talking about what happened at the club.”

“But–” Takeru started.

“No. Talking. About. The. Club.”

“Okay, okay.” Takeru raised his hands in surrender. “No talking about the club.”

“Rule two: Nothing will happen between us.”

“Sure.” Takeru shrugged. Tsukishima was cute and the sex had been great, but Takeru could totally live with him just as flatmates.

“Rule three: No entering the other’s room.”

“Yeah, okay, sounds fair,” Takeru said. “You want me to sign as well, or?”

“Just sign next to my name,” Tsukishima said curtly and put his own copy next to Takeru's. Then he handed Takeru a pen. “One contract for each of us.”

Takeru hummed, signed his name on both papers, and handed the pen back to Tsukishima, who stood up curtly and left Takeru alone in the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, Takeru left the kitchen as well and went to bed. On his way, he noticed a piece of paper taped on Tsukishima’s bedroom door.

“REMEMBER THE HOUSE RULES” it said, in all capital letters.

Takeru shook his head and sighed.

\---

The next day, Makoto invited Takeru over for dinner. While Takeru had been to the flat she shared with Yotsuya before, he wanted to see how it looked now that she had gotten some time to unpack all her boxes.

Also, Yotsuya was a surprisingly good cook, and Takeru could totally deal with his weird ways if it meant he got free food.

“So, how’s my favourite sister doing?” he said as he stepped into their flat.

Makoto gave him a _look_. “Your _only_ sister, you mean,” she said, but stepped into his arms for a hug when he opened them.

“So? Doesn’t mean you can’t be my favourite sister?” Takeru said smiling. “We didn’t get to talk much yesterday.”

“I’m good, nii-san,” she answered. “Please come in. Bun-chan is just setting the table, so the dinner will be done in five.”

Takeru’s stomach grumbled loudly, and they both laughed.

Dinner was a pleasant affair, and Takeru was starting to relax. They talked about everything and nothing, and even Yotsuya was being surprisingly normal. Yotsuya and Makoto were doing great sharing a flat, and Takeru was almost jealous. Almost.

Yotsuya cleared the table, and when he bent down to take Takeru’s plate he whispered, “I’m sorry about what’s about to happen,” but the manic smile on his face said otherwise.

Makoto smiled pleasantly, but there was something off about her smile.

Takeru paled.

“Nii-san,” Makoto said, “tell us about Tsukishima-kun.”

“I … what do you mean?” Takeru shifted in his seat. “I don’t really know him that well, you know. He just moved in yesterday.”

“You know what I mean, nii-san.”

“I … don’t?”

It was in moments like these Takeru wished Makoto had never met Yotsuya Buntarou. His sweet baby sister had become a lot more intimidating after she started hanging out with him, and she knew just how to get people to tell the truth.

Yotsuya was just watching the two siblings, an almost proud smile on his face.

“I’m sure you do, nii-san,” Makoto continued. “You see, yesterday there seemed to be some sort of _tension_ between the two of you? It almost seemed like you knew each other already?”

Between Makoto and Yotsuya, Takeru felt trapped. He knew there was no way out of this conversation, and that he should just get it over with, but it wasn’t that easy. Takeru and Makoto didn’t really talk about things like romance and sex. They were siblings for fucks sake. Takeru didn’t want to know about Makoto’s sex life, and he didn’t want her to know about his either.

“_Fuck_,” Takeru said, and hid his face in his hands. His voice was quiet, small. “We hooked up, okay? At a club? I didn’t even know his name. But now we’re flatmates, and I don’t know how to deal with it.” Takeru took a deep breath. “But we have house rules, so I’ll live.”

Yotsuya cackled, but Makoto’s expression had softened.

“You’ll be fine, nii-san,” she said.

“Just don’t struggle against it,” Yotsuya supplied.

“Struggle against what?” Takeru asked, but neither of them answered.

\---

The next few weeks were interesting to say the least. Things were quite awkward between Takeru and his new flatmate. They had no problems, and Tsukishima always kept the common areas clean and tidy, but they didn’t talk. At all. Takeru had tried, but Tsukishima would either “tsk” or answer short, one-syllable answers and move on as quickly as he could.

Still, Takeru had to admit, it was better than having to pay the whole rent by himself.

There were other bright sides to Tsukishima moving in, too.

He didn’t have a creepy boyfriend, so Takeru didn’t have to worry about meeting anyone in the middle of the night sitting in the darkness of their living room.

Takeru’s plants were no longer dying. Tsukishima had forbidden Takeru from touching them, and as if by magic, they were now thriving. None of them had looked healthier since Takeru bought them.

They had managed to settle into a routine they were both content with; avoiding each other as best they could, or at least Tsukishima did, Takeru was just quietly living his life. At least his classes were interesting. Takeru could get lost in the routine of university life; going to classes in the day and reading at night.

Takeru always left in the morning before Tsukishima did, but that meant he was also the first one home. It gave Takeru a couple of quiet hours alone at home. He did whatever reading he had to do and worked on lab reports and other course work. By the time Tsukishima made it home, Takeru had already left for the gym.

It was a good routine.

\---

Things became easier, but also harder, after Takeru met Yamaguchi Tadashi.

Yamaguchi was a tall, but timid guy, who introduced himself to Takeru as, “Tsukki’s best friend and confidant.”

He was a lot more friendly and outgoing that Tsukishima, and Takeru couldn’t help but like him.

When Yamaguchi visited for the first time, Takeru had been on his way to the gym as they arrived. Tsukishima had introduced the two of them out of common courtesy, but Takeru could tell that he’d rather do anything else. Yamaguchi had smiled, and Takeru was surprised that a sourpuss like Tsukishima had such a sweet friend.

As Takeru came back from the gym, he heard the sound of the TV from the living room. Sticking his head in, he saw Yamaguchi and Tsukishima curled up on the couch, watching a movie.

“Dude! Are you guys watching _The Land Before Time_?” he asked and couldn’t conceal the excitement in his voice.

They both turned towards him, and Yamaguchi smiled. “It just started. Do you want to watch it with us, Nakashima-san?”

“I’m sure Nakashima-san has lots of things to do, Tadashi. Why would he want to watch a children’s movie?” Tsukishima said.

“Tsukki, it’s a good movie,” Yamaguchi said, chiding his friend.

“It’s … _dino_-mite!” Takeru said, and Yamaguchi laughed.

Tsukishima only made a “tsk” sound, but he shifted closer to Yamaguchi to make space for Takeru on the couch.

Takeru dropped down in the now open space, and Yamaguchi restarted the movie from the beginning.

“We just started watching,” he explained. “We got maybe ten minutes in, right, Tsukki?”

“Whatever,” Tsukishima grumbled.

They both quieted down when the movie started playing. Takeru thought it was almost cute how engrossed in the movie they were. It was a good movie, for sure, but the way especially Tsukishima was so deeply captivated by it still surprised Takeru. His eyes were glued to the screen, and he didn’t even notice when Yamaguchi spilled some tea on his legs. His only reaction was telling Yamaguchi to be quiet when he whispered that he was sorry.

It was almost … cute. Tsukishima was cute. And Takeru was probably pretty fucked.

When Tsukishima had to take a toilet break, Yamaguchi turned towards Takeru.

“He talks a lot about you,” Yamaguchi said, a playful smile on his face.

“He does?” Takeru was surprised.

“Yeah,” Yamaguchi said. “I think he really likes living with you.”

“He does?” Takeru wasn’t sure if he should believe that or not. He and Tsukishima barely talked to each other. Yamaguchi must have gotten the wrong impression.

“Mhm!” Yamaguchi nodded. “He talks about you all the time.”

Takeru stared at Yamaguchi in confusion, but as he opened his mouth to ask what Yamaguchi meant by that, Tsukishima walked back into the room.

Yamaguchi winked at Takeru and turned back to the TV.

Tsukishima looked suspiciously at Yamaguchi, but in the end just shook his head and sat down between them again.

\---

After Yamaguchi’s visit, things between Takeru and Tsukishima got easier. As the weeks went by, Tsukishima slowly opened up to Takeru, and they started spending more time together. They were, Takeru dared say, friends.

All the same, things got a lot harder as well.

Takeru had always known Tsukishima was good looking, but he hadn’t realised how cute he was. He hadn’t realised that he was so much fun talking to. He hadn’t realised that living with Tsukishima could be comfortable. He hadn’t realised … he hadn’t realised …

But they had rules, and Takeru would follow them.

Still, as Tsukishima once again laughed at Takeru when he couldn’t reach his favourite mug, that Tsukishima himself had placed on the top shelf of the cupboard, Takeru’s heart clenched.

“You laugh now,” Takeru said, as he fetched a chair, “but the skeletal remains of dinosaurs don’t find it humerus.”

Tsukishima sighed, but now it was fond.

\---

Takeru sighed deeply and leaned onto the table.

“You okay, dude?” Kawatabi asked.

“Yes.” Takeru answered. “No. I don’t know … _Fuck_.”

Kawatabi looked concerned. “Anything I can do to help?” he asked.

Takeru sighed again.

“Not really.”

And there really wasn’t. There really wasn’t because Kawatabi didn’t know the source of Takeru’s troubles. Kawatabi didn’t know Tsukishima Kei.

Kawatabi didn’t know how Tsukishima had slowly opened up to Takeru. How in the beginning, had done his best to ignore Takeru, but now he’d even initiate conversations himself. How he would tease Takeru for being short, but he’d still fetch whatever Takeru needed from the highest shelf. How he’d ask Takeru to watch dinosaur movies, but he never showed appreciation to Takeru’s puns. How he sometimes fell asleep on the couch and looked so peaceful. So … cute.

There really wasn’t anything Kawatabi could do.

“Anyway,” Kawatabi said, trying to change the topic, “how’s things going with the roomie?”

Takeru had told Kawatabi about the flatmate situation, but he might have left out the hooking up part of it.

“It’s …” Takeru started. “He’s … Things are … _Fuck_, Tabi, he’s killing me.”

“Do you need me to fight him?” Kawatabi asked, and Takeru could see he was serious.

“No!” Takeru exclaimed. “It’s not like that. It’s … Tabi, he’s … I think I might have a crush.” Takeru winced.

He could see that Kawatabi was confused.

“A crush?”

Takeru nodded.

“On your … flat … mate?”

Takeru nodded again. This time he was blushing bright red.

“Oh. _Oh, fuck_.”

“Yeah …”

The two of them sat in silence until Kawatabi had to leave for class.

\---

“Surprise!” Makoto said, as Takeru came home from the gym, and she and Yotsuya sat on the couch talking to a Tsukishima, who looked just a tiny bit freaked out. Yotsuya’s predator grin was slightly smaller than normal, which was probably why.

Tsukishima rose quickly and strode past Takeru towards his room. Stopping before he entered, he turned towards Takeru. “I’m in my room if you need me,” he said, and quickly closed the door behind him.

“Why are you guys here?” Takeru asked his sister and Yotsuya.

“Can’t a sister visit her brother when she feels like it?”

“Sure, but …”

“We just wanted to,” Makoto said, and Takeru didn’t feel like questioning her further.

He sat down in a chair next to the couch. “How’s life, Makoto?” he asked.

As they talked, Takeru could hear doors open and close behind him. He could hear Tsukishima walk to the kitchen and back to his room, and then later, Tsukishima even entered the living room to get to the bathroom. Takeru forced himself to not follow Tsukishima with his eyes.

He could feel Yotsuya’s sharp gaze on him.

“… and so, dad called and cried to me about how mum didn’t love him anymore, how she’d left him. But it was all bullshit, you know. She just went out to buy more tea.”

Takeru laughed. “Only him.”

“He’s so weird,” Makoto said fondly.

The three of them sat in comfortable silence. Takeru thought about his parents. He should probably give them a call soon. Ask how his younger siblings were doing. Maybe he should call Isamu. His wife was pregnant, and it had been a long time since Takeru last talked to him.

“You can’t see it,” Yotsuya said, breaking the silence, “but he’s been watching us for a while now.”

Yotsuya was looking towards the hallway. Takeru, who was sitting with his back towards it, turned around, but couldn’t see anyone.

“Who?” he asked.

Yotsuya smiled. “Well,” he said, “specifically he’s been watching _you_.”

Takeru looked to Makoto, but her face was scarily neutral.

“And with that, I think it’s time we leave,” Yotsuya said, and grabbed Makoto’s hand as they went to fetch their shoes and jackets.

Takeru followed them out in the entrance.

“We should do this more often,” Makoto said. “It was nice.”

Takeru nodded. “Yeah,” he said, hoping she’d come alone the next time. “Tell mum and dad ‘hi’ next time you talk to them.”

“Will do,” she said, and gave Takeru a hug. “Good luck, nii-san.”

\---

It took another week before Takeru finally understood his sister’s and Yotsuya’s cryptic statements.

Tsukishima had been restless the whole week. Irritable and more often than not, holed up in his room.

Takeru had tried talking to him, but he didn’t really know what to say, so in the end, he let it go. Whatever was plaguing Tsukishima, would probably go away, or he would come talk to Takeru if he needed to. So Takeru backed off and tried to not irritate his flatmate further.

Finally, Friday night, as Takeru had just sat down with his Evolutions and Genetics textbook, Tsukishima knocked on his door.

“Hey,” Takeru said as he opened the door, “you good?”

Tsukishima didn’t look Takeru in the eyes. Standing frozen in front of Takeru, he looked like he was in pain, like something distressing was on his mind.

There was something weirdly familiar about the whole situation.

Closing his eyes for a couple of second, Tsukishima took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, he looked Takeru straight in the eyes.

“Please,” Tsukishima said, “kiss me.”

That was the moment Takeru’s brain decided to desert him, and all he managed to say was, “Hah, déjà vu.”

“Please, Nakashima-san,” Tsukishima said. “_Takeru_.”

It was like Takeru woke up from years of sleep, and he finally looked at the man standing in front of him. He smiled softly.

“Kiss me,” Tsukishima repeated.

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Takeru put his hands carefully on Tsukishima’s face and kissed him. It was a soft kiss, like Takeru was scared Tsukishima would break. Like he wanted to treasure him. Like he’d waited forever and could wait a little bit longer.

Or could he?

Takeru broke away from the kiss but stayed close to Tsukishima. “Are we really doing this?”

Tsukishima said nothing, just softly kissed Takeru again.

“Tsukishima,” Takeru said quietly. “_Kei_. Are you sure?”

“I … _fuck_, please, Takeru,” Tsukishima whispered. “I need this. I need _you_. I _want _you.”

Takeru could feel Tsukishima tremble.

“Me too,” he breathed, and drew Tsukishima close to him and into his room.

\---

Takeru woke up the next morning with Kei curled up in his arms. He looked so soft when he was asleep. Hair tousled and a calm look on his face. Takeru smiled to himself.

Kei stirred, and slowly his eyes opened.

“Morning,” Takeru said quietly.

Kei buried into Takeru’s neck, to shield his eyes from the bright light in the room. “Morning,” he mumbled, and his breath tickling Takeru.

The two of them stayed like that, basking in the other’s warmth and closeness, but in the end, Takeru broke the silence. “As we’ve already broken two out of three rules,” he said, “can we break the third as well?”

Kei grunted, and Takeru took it as a ‘yes’.

“Why did you approach me at the club that day?”

Kei looked up at him, thinking back. Finally, he said, “My ex was there. We had a bad break-up, and I just wanted him to see I was over him. And I … liked your looks. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Takeru chuckled, “I like your looks too. They’re … pter-iffic!”

Takeru winked at Kei, who groaned in reply, but did nothing to leave Takeru’s arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Keeping this fic a secret was so hard rip.


End file.
